Rousseff goes negative as Silva leads Brazil presidential race

BRASILIA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - With polls showing Marina Silva
well-positioned to win Brazil's election next month, President
Dilma Rousseff's campaign team has taken off the gloves and is
painting her rival as a dangerous wild card backed by an
out-of-touch financial elite.

Rousseff's campaign managers hope to reverse Silva's
dramatic rise in polls by portraying the environmentalist as an
obstacle to Brazil's development and a threat to the social
gains made under 12 years of leftist Workers' Party rule.

They are taking aim at Silva's weakest flank, her lack of
support among the most powerful political parties in Congress,
calling her a recipe for unstable government.

And the strategy may be working. Two polls this week showed
Silva's surge had leveled out though she remains ahead in a
likely runoff, while Rousseff gained some ground and lowered her
high rejection numbers.

An icon of Brazil's anti-establishment movement, Silva has
captured the support of voters who are fed up with corruption
and traditional politicians. She vows to clean up politics and
eschews the often murky alliances between the scores of parties
in Brazil's political system.

A TV ad run by Rousseff's party this week compared Silva to
two former presidents who tried to govern alone and failed.
Janio Quadros resigned in 1961 after only seven months and
Fernando Collor quit in 1992 before he was impeached on
corruption charges.

"Dreams are fine, but elections are when you need to get
down to earth and return to reality," the ad says.